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Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto said drivers should âturn the pageâ on complaints about the 2026 regulations and accept that the current rules are in place until the end of 2030, adding that the cars are still fun to drive. Bortoleto said: "If there are still people complaining about it, just move the page. That's the regulations we have until 2030, if I understood correctly. And then in 2031, when we go to the new regulations, we talk about it again. But we cannot spend three years talking about the same problem every time, you know, because that's what we have. The cars are still fun to drive. It's different. We need to adapt to that and it's life."
Franco Colapinto says the aftermath of his heavy 2024 Las Vegas crash was the toughest moment of his Formula 1 career because he was trying to secure a seat. Colapinto said: "I'm sharing this example now because it has been the most difficult one for me. My time was running out, I didn't have a new contract yet and then you want to do well to prove yourself. But suddenly you know that you can't because you have a car that is three tenths slower. That was tricky for me, I think the trickiest experience so far, but all those things make you really strong."
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur said Charles Leclercâs British Grand Prix win at Silverstone was driven more by restoring confidence than by Ferrari suddenly finding a big jump in performance. Vasseur said: "He found the confidence. That's it. Each step of setup is not making a proper difference in terms of lap time, but sometimes, it's giving them confidence to push a bit more. And for race pace, it's crucial. He was very consistent all throughout the race. If you have a look at the first 20 laps, he was within one or two tenths, and he was key for us to be in the fight with Mercedes."
Lando Norris says he âsurprisedâ himself with how relaxed he felt during the final two rounds of the 2025 season, even with Max Verstappen having closed to within two points of him after McLarenâs double disqualification in Las Vegas. Norris said: "I surprised myself with how not nervous I was. I was never that confident, but I just wasn't nervous going into Abu Dhabi on Sunday, or even going into the Abu Dhabi or Qatar weekends. It wasn't like I was thinking, 'Oh, they're hot on our heels,' or whatever it was, you know. I was surprised at how relaxed I was on Sunday in Abu Dhabi when, at the end of the day, it was only two points."
Sergio Perez says placing Force India into administration in 2018 was essential to stop the team going bankrupt, after his manager found an unpaid supplier had filed a winding-up petition that could have forced its closure. Perez said: "We did the whole process to put the team in administration before the winding-up petition came in, because if we didn't, the team would have gone bankrupt. All the people, all the team [would have lost their jobs]. So at the time it was Force India, which is now Aston Martin. Aston Martin wouldn't exist."
Spa-Francorchamps is set for cooler conditions than in recent races, with the main threat of disruption coming on Friday when the forecast includes a 40% chance of rain showers and possible thunderstorms, and temperatures up to 25°C. Saturday looks more settled with a mix of cloud and sun, a 20% rain chance and a high of 21°C, while Sundayâs race day is expected to be dry with just a 10% rain risk and a cooler 19°C maximum, though there is a low risk of early fog across the weekend.
Pirelli has nominated the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, which will serve as the hard, medium and soft tyres respectively. Pirelli added that Spaâs changeable weather can complicate the switch between slicks and intermediates, while it expects the two hardest compounds to be the main tyres in Sundayâs race.
Max Verstappen says the hardest step for Red Bull is making the final jump from closing the gap to being able to fight for wins with its RB22 car. Verstappen said: "There are, of course, easier steps to make. When you are far behind, the hardest [step] is always the last one to really fight for the win, so let's see how we can do that to be in the fight again. I am not sure, but for sure, the team is always giving it 100% and pushing it flat out to make the car faster, but we also know that other teams are constantly bringing upgrades."
Charles Leclerc says it is âtoo early to sayâ whether Ferrari can build on its surprise British Grand Prix performance at Spa, and that the team needs to analyse why it was much quicker than expected at Silverstone. Leclerc said: "I think it's too early to say. I think this weekend was a particularly big surprise for the whole team. Not the win, just the overall performance. I mean, we were a lot faster than what we thought, and I think as much as we need to analyse when things are going a lot worse than expected, we also need to analyse when things go a lot better than expected."
Lewis Hamilton says upgrades to Ferrariâs power unit to close the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull will take âmonthsâ. Hamilton said: "Sometimes it feels like there is a lack of battery power at the end of the straight because you're seeing it on the overlays to Mercedes and Red Bull, and you sit down and talk about it. But you have to understand that it takes months to design and make changes to get the reliability, and the most amazing thing is that the team have built a reliable car and a reliable engine, and now we can build on that foundation, thanks to the rule change."
Williams team principal James Vowles says he and Carlos Sainz are âalignedâ on the Williams project, despite both being frustrated by the teamâs current situation. Vowles said: "So he and I are aligned on it. Is he frustrated by where we are today? Yes. Being candid, I'm frustrated as well, at the same time. What he's looking for, 'Do you have the ability to put this in the right perspective, turn it around, add performance at the right rate.' That's what we have to demonstrate to him. I'm confident we'll be able to do this."
McLaren CEO Zak Brown says his immediate concern about the idea of a 12th Formula 1 team, amid rumours of interest from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, is whether some circuits have enough pit-lane capacity. Brown said: "I haven't thought about it. I guess if I want to give it two seconds of thought, you've got operational issues with some of the circuits, whether they could have the capacity. Ultimately, it's up to the FIA and Formula 1."
Fernando Alonso says teams face a major energy management dilemma at Spa-Francorchamps because the Belgian Grand Prix track is âvery thirstyâ and using battery deployment on one straight can leave a lap âfinitoâ. Fernando Alonso said: "You cannot deploy in all the straights. Next week, it is going to be the same thing. If you deploy in Spa from Turn 1 (La Source) to 5 (Les Combes), it is finito for the rest of the lap. So, you need to save a little bit there to have deployment from Turn 14 (Stavelot) to the Bus Stop chicane. But if you deploy in those two straights, which is the optimal deployment, then there is one minute, sector two, with no deployment at all."
McLaren will run Mercedesâ latest-specification F1 power unit on both cars for the first time at this weekendâs Belgian Grand Prix, two races after it debuted on the works Mercedes in Austria. The team delayed the change because it still had mileage to use on its existing engines after cycling through components amid 2026 reliability problems. McLaren will also introduce a new rear wing at Spa, with technical director Neil Houldey saying it will be âtested and evaluated in Fridayâs practice sessionsâ but warning that âwe wonât be expecting any big change in terms of competitiveness.â
Toto Wolff says Mercedes must âexecute cleanlyâ and stop leaving points âon the tableâ after reliability issues cost the team in recent races, ahead of this weekendâs Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Wolff said: "Our aim is to execute cleanly, deliver the reliability we need, and convert the performance of the car into the points it is capable of scoring. We have left too much on the table recently. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again starting this weekend."
Franco Colapinto says Formula 1 should return to the AutĂłdromo Oscar y Juan GĂĄlvez in Buenos Aires and believes Argentina could deliver a ârecord-breakingâ crowd if it does, with renovations under way at the circuit. Colapinto said: "The fans are amazing; they are very passionate, extremely passionate, and I think will be a very solid race for F1 to go to at some point, probably some records in terms of people going there. The way the fans support the drivers or the teams would be something that has never seen before."
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